How Do You Like Them Apples?

Another awesome thing about fall is that apples are crazy tasty and cheap. One of the grocery stores here has been having apples for 49 cents a pound. We've been buying a lot of apples. I was there the other day and they were 24 cents a pound! My bargain-loving heart was going wild! Anyway, I really wanted to make some apple butter while I could get the apples cheap. I ended up doing a shorter, easier method and just did it in the slow cooker. Incidentally, while trying to find a recipe to use, I found out that in Enon, a town right next to Springfield, they have an apple butter festival every year at the beginning of October. I just missed it! Next year, perhaps.

 I started by peeling, coring, and slicing about 9-10 lbs of apples. I used a bunch of different kinds of apples: Jonathan, Ida Red, McIntosh, Gala, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Jonagold, Cortland, and Rome. I think using different kinds made it really flavorful. I added about 1 1/2 cups white sugar, about 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, a couple teaspoons cinnamon, a couple teaspoons ground cloves, a bit of ginger, a few splashes of vanilla, and some pumpkin pie spice because I wanted some nutmeg flavor but didn't have any. My measurements were not at all precise because I didn't have any measuring utensils so I was using a plastic cup and a plastic spoon to measure things out. I let it cook on high for 2 hrs then let it cook on low all night and a good part of the next day. I ended up with this...

 My non-precise measuring left me with too-sweet apple butter that tasted more like sugar, cinnamon, and cloves than apples. So I peeled, cored, and sliced probably another 5 lbs of apples cooked them in a pan on the stove to break them down quickly and then added them to what I already had. The result...

 Perfection!

Hopefully, if you give this a try, the cooker part of your crock pot won't end up looking like mine. This is after I tried to clean it, too.

Totally worth it.

Two posts in a week? I'm surprised the universe didn't explode.